St. John’s Alumna Builds Career in Sports Marketing and Brand Partnerships
A native of Italy, Melania Porteri ’24M.S. dreamt of living and working in the United States. A student of kinesiology, she initially came to the Mount Sinai Health System for thesis research but realized medicine and training others were ultimately not for her.
She found her true path at St. John’s University.
If there’s anything I can get involved in as an expert in sport management, count me in.
Today, she serves as Senior Associate of Integrated Marketing at Wave Sports & Entertainment, helping connect brands with sports and entertainment audiences through podcasts, social activations, and talent-driven content.
“I quickly realized that I wasn’t meant for that kind of life,” she recalled of her original career path. “I wanted to do my thesis research about the economics of sports because I saw clearly how different the American world was from the European.”
She noted that, as a woman, the path to a career in sports in Italy or Europe was narrow. “The US definitely offered more opportunity,” she remarked.
That realization led her to seek a graduate program in sport management. She considered other New York institutions, but St. John’s stood out for its sports industry connections, location, and strong ties to Italy through the University’s Rome, Italy, center and the Italian American community.
“Going to St. John’s made so much sense,” she asserted.
While studying for her degree, Ms. Porteri was alerted to a scholarship opportunity by Luca Iandoli, Ph.D., Dean of The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies and Professor, Division of Computer Science, Mathematics, and Science.
The $25,000 scholarship, which resulted from the University’s partnership with UBS Arena and the New York Islanders, is given to a graduate student in The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies and The Peter J. Tobin College of Business.
She wrote an essay connecting sports, economics, return on investment, and social return on investment, and was selected for the scholarship. “It was just before the deadline,” she said. “That was a big win, honestly.”
Ms. Porteri credited several St. John’s faculty members for their extraordinary support during her time there. “Every time I sent an email, I had a reply in less than 24 hours. Everyone was always ready to help. What was great about my education was that I was exposed to so many different professors from across the sports industry. The entire support structure that St. John’s gives to its students really stood out for me.”
Faculty members helped her navigate the American sports industry, University Career Services connected her to alumni and opportunities, and the UBS Islanders Scholarship alleviated financial stress as she sought a practical foothold in the industry. She also served as a graduate assistant for the St. John’s Men’s Basketball team, which effectively prepared her for her job at Wave.
In her current role, Ms. Porteri works at the crossroads of sports, entertainment, talent, and brand partnerships, helping brands find authentic ways into sports and entertainment content. “Most of the time it’s about integrating the client into our show in the most organic way,” she said, adding that her role also involves using data “to create a stronger story to tell for the client.” “I’m doing the job that I always wanted to do,” she said. “I always wanted to do brand partnership and marketing.”
Ms. Porteri is grateful for her St. John’s experience and wants to give back. She has already attended several College events and has an intense desire to mentor students and pay it forward. “If there’s anything I can get involved in as an expert in sport management, count me in.”
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Vincenzo DiMaggio ’96CBA came close to walking away from St. John’s University just months after arriving. The son of Italian immigrants and a first-generation college student, he was juggling a demanding course load and two jobs—and by Thanksgiving break, he was done.
“Not all my friends took the college route after high school—and to be honest, I was on the fence about it, too,” he said. “But it was important to my parents, so I enrolled. Then I told them over Thanksgiving: ‘I’m not going back.’”
For Whitestone, NY, native Dennis Kirincich ’93CBA, “something just clicked” with St. John’s University when he considered colleges.
“So many people in my community went there,” he recalled. “Several of my brother’s friends attended, as did students from my high school. It’s well-known, respected, and has a great reputation for business, which is exactly what I wanted.”
For Charles Driest ’07M.B.A., the allure of Italy brought him to St. John’s University. With his father in the US Marine Corps, Mr. Driest developed an early sense of wanderlust, “seeking out new things, new experiences”—and the ability to study abroad during his M.B.A. program played a major role in his decision to attend St. John’s.
“When I first started to look at M.B.A. options, I put a couple of parameters around what I wanted to do,” he said. “I wanted to be at a program in a metropolitan location, and I was very interested in the opportunity to have a study abroad opportunity,” which is something he had not taken advantage of during his undergraduate years at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.